Daily Life, Deadly Life, Dead Life
by pandoraElf
Summary: Sayaka wakes up expecting to find a nightmare, and instead finds something much worse.
1. Reality Slips

_**My name is ###### #######...**_

 _ **Nice to meet you, ######...**_

 _ **I can't stay in here any longer...!**_

 _ **No one is coming to rescue us...!**_

 ** _I have to get out..._**

 ** _I have to get out...!_**

 ** _If I don't..._**

 ** _I'll...!_**

 **D**

 **E**

 **S**

 **P**

 **A**

 **I**

 **R**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

Sayaka awoke with a start. She sat up, rubbing her head. What was that dream? And where was she...?

Looking around, the memories came flooding back.

She was trapped in Hope's Peak Academy.

As she remembered this cold, undeniable fact, a fresh wave of hopelessness washed over her. If she wanted to get out, she would have to

 _ **Kill Someone And You Can Leave**_

Sayaka jerked up in surprise. That voice...had she imagined it?

Looking around her room, which was as devoid of other people as it usually was, she concluded she must have...

 _ **Her room.**_

Why did that phrase sound...wrong?

She knew part of why, of course. No matter how long she stayed here, this would never feel like _her_ room. But still, something else seemed off...

She shook her head, trying to clear it. It was probably just her imagination.

Looking at the clock next to her bed, her eyes widened. It was nearly time to meet with everyone in the cafeteria. How had she slept in this late?

As she got up, she thought about the meeting some more. She was thankful for the fact that she wasn't alone, that she had friends with her like Makoto-

 _ **Makoto?**_

All of a sudden, she realized what was off. She had swapped rooms with Makoto the night before, so why was she back in her old room?

Had she dreamt the story up? Had she imagined the fact that she had looked for comfort from Makoto after her door had begun rattling during the night?

 _ **A Lie.**_

Wait.

Her door hadn't rattled during the night.

But she distinctly remembered saying to Makoto that it had. Why would she lie about that?

Thinking about it some more, it seemed more and more likely that it was a dream. That seemed to be the only possible reason that her memories were so jumbled up.

She sighed. The only way to truly find out what was going on, she thought as she walked to the door, was to ask Makoto. He could verify whether it had been a dream or not. She made to open the door and-

-grabbed empty air.

Sayaka blinked. What?

She looked at the door. It was still there, handle and all. So why couldn't she grab it? Was she really so out of sorts that she couldn't see straight?

She cautiously extended her hand towards the door again-

-and froze.

Everything she had been thinking about was suddenly shunted to the back of her mind as she gazed at her hand.

What she was seeing wasn't real...right?

She was dreaming...right?

She couldn't actually be...

 _ **NOT A DREAM**_

 _Transparent?_


	2. Far Away

_**Dangerous...**_

 _ **Evil...**_

 _ **Abomination...**_

 _ **Despair...**_

Sayaka gazed at her hand in horror. No...she wasn't...she can't..she couldn't be...

 _ **GONE**_

...Right?

All of a sudden, she felt a lurching in her stomach. She placed a hand over her mouth and attempted to use the other to steady herself against the door...

 _ **NOTHINGNESS**_

...and she fell. Right through the door, and into the hallway.

Sayaka winced as she got up.

She stood there, silent, for who knows how long.

This pain she felt...this queasiness...

Surely it was proof that she couldn't be...you know, right?

 _This is just a dream,_ she thought frantically to herself. _Just a twisted, depraved nightmare..._

 ** _NOT A DREAM_**

She felt another lurch in her stomach and instinctively pressed up against the wall...and didn't fall through.

Sayaka felt a sudden onset of relief. Of course. If she was really a you-know what, she would have passed through the wall! Of course!

 _ **EXCUSES**_

Now, the only thing left to do was to wake up.

...How was she going to do that?

 _ **NOT ASLEEP**_

She was interrupted from her thoughts by frantic footsteps.

Sayaka looked up, and saw Makoto running towards the dorms from the dining hall.

She felt relieved. If there was one person she could trust

 _ **YOU BETRAYED HIM**_

it was him. He would help.

Suddenly, she realized that he was heading straight for her, and while he was slowing down, he would still crash into her. As he came closer, she held her hands in front of her instinctively, and...

 _Sayaka! Please, be okay!_

...she passed right through him.

Of course, Sayaka thought dryly, that would be too easy.

Turning around, she saw Makoto frantically banging on the door to his room. "Sayaka! Are you okay?"

For a moment, it warmed her heart that he was worried for her.

 _ **YOU BETRAYED HIM!**_

All of a sudden, she noticed something. The nameplate on Makoto's room read, _Sayaka Maizono._

 _ **YOUR NAME**_

Turning around to look at her door, she read the nameplate. _Makoto Naegi._

What? Had someone switched the nameplates? If so, who?

 _ **YOU DID**_

Sayaka blinked as a memory came rushing back. She did? But...why? That defeated the whole purpose of changing rooms.

All of a sudden, she heard a door opening next to her. Makoto had opened the door. Was it unlocked?

 _ **dangerous...evil...abomination...despair...**_

Why was it unlocked?

 _ **Dangerous. Evil. Abomination. Despair.**_

She followed Makoto into the room, ignoring the door as it swang right through her.

 _ **Dangerous, Evil, Abomination, Despair.**_

The room looked like it was the sight of a battle.

 _ **Dangerousevilabominationdespair**_

Sayaka shivered as she walked with Makoto over to the shower room.

 _ **DangerousEvilAbominationDespair**_

She looked inside and found...

 _ **DANGEROUSEVILABOMINATIONDESPAIR**_

...and found...

 _ **DANGEROUSEVILABOMINATIONDESPAIR!**_

Her body. Blood streaming from a knife stuck in her chest.

 _ **D E A D**_

She barely registered the scream Makoto let loose right beside her.

She was dead.


	3. Fiction Comes Alive

_**THIS**_

 _ **IS**_

 _ **NOT**_

 _ **A**_

 _ **DREAM**_

The moment she saw that bloody scene, she knew. She didn't know how, but she _knew._

She was...dead.

She collapsed on the floor, sobbing. This couldn't be happening. This was just...too much...

 _ **. . .**_

What was she supposed to do now?

 _ **.**_

She would be forgotten...left behind...

 _ **!**_

Should she just...

 _ **! ! !**_

Give up?

 _ **! ! ! ! !**_

...

...

...

...

...

 _Hope._

She turned her head to the fainted form of Makoto.

 _ **YOU BETRAYED HIM.**_

He'd been desperate to find her, to make sure she was safe.

 _He's still your friend._

He'd been hurt by this more than she had.

 _ **HE WASN'T HERE FOR YOU.**_

He'd helped her without complaint when she'd asked to switch rooms.

 _He did his best._

She put her hand on his head, stroking it.

 _ **YOU DON'T DESERVE HIM.**_

He...

 _Never gave up on you._

She was dead now. What could she possibly do?

 _ **NOTHING! SINK INTO DESPAIR!**_

Should _she_ give up? Just...let herself fade away? But...

 _Just because you aren't alive..._

 _...doesn't mean you can't live._

Live?

How? She was dead. It was sort of self-explanatory.

 _ **EXACTLY!**_

 _Be with him._

Be with...Makoto?

 _ **YOU BETRAYED HIM! YOU DON'T DESERVE HIM!**_

 _He needs you now more than ever._

She couldn't be there with him physically...

 _But you can still be there with him in spirit._

...That was a terrible joke.

But Sayaka smiled anyway.

 _Just because this isn't a dream...doesn't mean you can't wake up._


End file.
